A Brief Introduction To The City

							                                 A Brief Introduction To The City
         Wuxi, a resplendent pearl on the Tai Lake and a famous historic city, lies in
the middle of the beautiful and prosperous Yangtze River Delta. It has jurisdiction
over two county-level cities(JiangYin and YiXing) and six districts(xishan \ huishan
\ binhu \ beitang \ nanchang \ chong`an) with a total area of 4,800 square
kilometers and a population of 5.18 million.
        Wuxi is a city with a long history on the South of the Yangtze River. As early
as seven thousand years ago, a primitive tribe was established here. In the late
Shang Dynasty (16th            century to 11th century B.C.)        Prince Taibo and his brother
Zhongyong, sons of king Zhou, a chieftain of the Ji Tribe living in the North, fled to
MeiLi and established the state of GouWu, creating the splendid ancient Wu
culture. The present city site was first built in the fifth year of the Han Dynasty(202
B.C.)   According to the legend, during the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, tin was mined
from XiShan hill. With the passage of time, the tin was mined out and the place
was called “Wuxi”( a city with no tin ) instead of “youxi” ( a city rich in tin ). There
was a saying “Where there in tin, there is a war; where there in no tin, there is a
peace.” (But some scholars hold the opinion that “Wuxi” is a place name in the ancient Yue dialect. Others
believe that “Wuxi” is the name of the totem of a clan tribe, and it means a divine bird.)

        Wuxi is the birthplace of China’s nationaol industry and commerce, renowed
as the “Little Shanghai”. It was aslo a famous cloth port and one of the four
largest rice markets in the late Qing Dynasty, since the reform and opening to the
outside world, Wuxi has made rapid progress in economy. It has been entitled as
one of the 15 economic centers in China. In 2000, its GDP reached more than
120 billion yuan, ranking 9th in China.
        Wuxi is an important traffic hub in Jiangsu Province, consisting of highways,
railways, airlines and water transportation.
        With rich natural and cultural heritage, Wuxi is one of the top ten tourist cities
in China. The typical features of the area is that of the regions of rivers and lakes.
Wuxi occupies the most scenic part of Tai Lake and enjoys the beautiful scenery.
        Today we will visit                .